Seventeen-year-old Charlotte O'Dell knows this summer is going to suck. Her Mother just died, her sister hates her, and her Dad completely checked out. Fulfilling her Mother's final wish, the family heads to Angel Island for the summer to stay in a beach house her Mother once loved.

After a year of being shut away taking care of her Mother, Charlotte is numb and practically afraid of her own shadow; she hopes going to the island will give her the time and space she needs to begin healing, and an opportunity to bring her family back together. When she meets her mysterious neighbour, Ezra, it doesn't take long for her to confess the issues she's developed. Ezra begins giving Charlotte assignments to get over her fears, and although she accepts his tasks, all she really wants is to be with him. When she's with Ezra, she's able to forget the hollow ache in her heart and the fact that her family is falling apart. But Ezra has secrets.....

Can Charlotte pull what's left of her family together, mend her broken heart, and allow herself to fall for Ezra? Or is it all just a storm waiting to happen?

MY REVIEW

When I came across the sign-up for this blog tour, I jumped at the chance and crossed my fingers that I would get selected, and when I perhaps squealed a little bit when I got the email that I was on the tour! I have been following Marie for a while now (though she may not know, and no it is not stalking when they are authors.....I don't think lol), and I have been waiting for this book to come out for various reasons, but a couple of them being that she is so sweet on social media, and she is CANADIAN!!!! A little bit of Canadian pride coming out there, and not only Canadian, but from around my area, extra bonus! Okay, so really enough about this on with the review......

This book was exactly what I needed right now, it is warm and fuzzy with a touch of family drama. I read it in one sitting because I could not get enough, and I needed to know what happened in the end. Marie's writing came off very similar in nature to me as someone like Sarah Dessen, there are major subjects tackled, but in a way that don't leave you heavy feeling or depressed in the end.

My favourite character was Ezra by far, he is that person that you always want in your life, he has his own issues and secrets for sure, but he is always there for his friends, and is willing to help with anything they need, even if it is just an ear to listen. And it also doesn't hurt that he is goodlooking of course. When we do learn what his secrets are it made me go "awww", which is what I was hoping for, I guarantee you will too!

I also really like Charlotte, she has and is still going through a lot at home, and is very much doing it alone, her Dad has shut off since her Mom got sick, and her sister is nowhere to be found. I very much disliked her sister through most of this novel, and really could not understand how she could possibly be acting the way she is at a time like that, however, when we learn what her reasoning is, I could almost explain away her actions (not all of them). Charlotte is taking care of her Dad when he should be the one taking care of her, and I can see how that could happen in this type of situation, but it really made me sad for her.

The relationship between Charlotte and Ezra is something that starts slow, just chatting, and then they become friends before anything happens, and I liked how it was like this because I think that Charlotte needed a friend more than anything else at that point, and so did Ezra in fact. Nothing in this novel felt rushed to me, the characters and their development were done really well as this story takes place over the span of months. Some may think even months is a little quick, but when they are on an island away from everything and are able to truly take the time to sit and think and start to mourn, I think it is a perfect pace.

If you are looking for a great contemporary novel, I highly suggest this one, I would say that it is almost hitting the New Adult genre just because of the age and maturity of the characters, but it doesn't have any of the "sexy times" that a lot of the New Adult has, and I for one appreciate that, sometimes I just want a warm fuzzy read, and I definitely will be coming back to this one time and time again, I give it a 5/5 if you had not guessed yet, I really hope you go out and get a copy soon, you will not be disappointed.

AUTHOR BIO

Marie Landry is the author of BLUE SKIES (Contemporary YA - January 2012), UNDRESSED (a collection of short erotic stories - October 2012), THE GAME CHANGER (chick-lit - November 2012) and WAITING FOR THE STORM (YA contemporary - April 2013). Marie has always been a daydreamer, since early childhood, she's had a passion for words and a desire to create imaginary worlds, so it only seemed natural for her to become a writer. She resides in Ontario, Canada, and most days you can find her writing, reading, blogging about writing and reading, listening to U2, or having grand adventures with her two precious nephews. For more on Marie and her books please visit http://marielandry.blogspot.ca/ or check out her book blog Ramblings of a Daydreamer at http://sweetmarie-83.blogspot.ca/.

About Me

HI there, my name is Holly and I am a single woman in her early 30's that has always had a love of reading! I work part time and on most days if I am not out with friends or family, you will probably find me happily curled up on the couch with a book and a coffee.

Welcome!

Hello everyone, and thank you for visiting! I am just starting out, so I am still very wet behind the ears, I would sincerely appreciate any feedback that you can provide to me, whether it be on the layout of the blog, books to read (I am accepting any books you would like to donate for review), and if my reviews of the books are written correctly!